Security camera footage posted online shows the moment an alleged neighborhood porch thief was caught by Queen’s homeowner Carlos Mejia, who lured the alleged thief with a fake package.
Mejia posted the viral footage onto his TikTok account Saturday, amassing over 800,000 views and showing him placing a decoy package on his porch because he was fed up with stolen packages. The footage shows a man wearing a green hoodie and carrying a grey backpack up to Mejia’s porch to where the decoy package was placed near the door.
The man is then seen stuffing the package into his backpack until Mejia swings open the door while holding a baseball bat to confront the thief. (RELATED: REPORT: Alleged Porch Pirate Pulls Out All Stops In Package-Stealing Scheme)
“Oh sh*t! Yo, yo, yo yo — I just didn’t want nobody to take him, bro!” the man yells as Mejia presses him against a fence.
“Naw, what you got in there? What you got in there?” Mejia asks.
“Nothing man. This is my stuff! You can everything — I live right there on the corner,” the man responds.
“Get on your knees, right now. Get on your f*cking knees!” Mejia shouts.
@lossmokes1Caught thief♬ original sound – Losmej31
Mejia later posted a follow-up video on his social media account showing the man in handcuffs as a handful of officers can be seen near the homeowner’s residence. Before the officers arrived, however, the man allegedly attempted to jump Mejia’s fence and was caught in a separate video on the ground calling for an ambulance to come as officers placed handcuffs on him.
“Officer, what am I being arrested for?” the alleged thief could be heard stating.
The alleged thief’s identity was later reported as 36-year-old Victor Stazzone, who was booked by officials for petit larceny, criminal possession of stolen property and criminal trespassing, according to the New York Post.
Mejia’s latest TikTok video reveals what the homeowner put in the decoy package, which was full of old french fries and a note that stated, “Keep stealing our shit and you won’t make it to the next year bitch ass cunt!”